I am a beer person myself. It is the only carbonated beverage I can drink without my stomach expanding to a frightening circumference (damn you, Sprite) and it is perfect after a long day at work or a hot day in the summertime. I’ll drink wine once in a while, at weddings or when I feel like looking sophisticated (because no one drinks beer out of a can at a black tie event). I have only been wine tasting once, in Tuscany, Italy of all places, so I knew my next wine tasting experience was probably not going to ever be up to par, but I was determined to do it again. And this summer I discovered, to my pleasant surprise, that there is wine country outside of Europe and California. Who would have thought?
This summer has been one for the books. It started when I arrived home after a solo backpacking trip through Vietnam, having met dozens of other solo travelers who were discovering the world for months at a time. I was deeply craving a freer life, unrestrained by the shackles of the monotonous American daily grind. Every morning I woke up and didn’t get to meet new people, try new foods, or see new sites was slowly killing me. My contract at work was ending soon. It seemed like the perfect time to get the fuxk out and travel to my heart’s content.
Then began the night sweats. The anxiety that kept me entrenched in wakefulness even at the darkest hours, paralyzed at the thought of the instability of a lack of income for the first time in years, when I had become so accustomed to the reliability of a biweekly paycheck. I recalled the months of investment necessary to secure my current job, and the hell of preparing for interviews. I imagined my savings account balance quickly dwindling down to nothingness. I pictured myself never getting back on my feet and living with my mother FOREVER.
I was not prepared to live a life free of responsibility. So instead of quitting my job and aimlessly traveling, a dream so many have but so few are able to implement, I decided to stay at my job, continue to accrue vacation time, and buy a house. BUY A GODDAMN HOUSE.
In short, it was not a typical summer. So I decided to end it with a typical and summertime experience. Wine tasting.
I had originally planned to go to upstate New York wineries with my sister for a weekend as an alternative to Napa Valley wine country on the opposite side of the continent. Winery hopping through California remains firmly on the bucket list, but it is still on the distant horizon. I wanted wine tasting now and I didn’t want to have to travel far to get it. Hence my plan to drive to upstate New York, but it was a trip my sister ultimately bailed on because she had a summer job with a Sunday shift. That seems to violate God’s terms of service of living on the earth and I wasn’t too happy about it, but sometimes you just have to work around other people. I’m not a fan, but it’s part of being human, apparently. Curses.
Turns out, there are lots of options in the way of wineries right outside of the capital district, which also happens to be very close to my new home in Baltimore city. Some even claim that Northern Virginia wine country is America’s next Napa Valley, and Thomas Jefferson saw Virginia as having the potential to produce European-grade wines, investing in wineries in the area nearly 300 years ago. I am pretty sure our founding fathers were onto something.
My favorite NoVa winery, and one that should be your favorite too, is Chrysalis Vineyards.
39025 John Mosby Highway, Middleburg, VA 20117
Chrysalis is about an hour’s drive from downtown DC, and is situated among breathtaking rolling green hills that you would never expect from northern Virginia. Meredith and I drove through some backroads around the Dulles airport and descended into a fit of giggles at the names of the surrounding roads (Package Drive. Machine Road.) until we finally pulled up to the Chrysalis facility, on top of a steep hill and overlooking the rural countryside of the Bull Run Mountains.
From the moment we arrived we felt welcome. The winery has wine tastings every 15 minutes during the on-season, so we were able to join a small group outside at a covered pavilion shortly after walking in. Chase, our wine connoisseur (is this what they’re called?), was incredibly polite and knowledgeable about each of the wines that the winery had to offer, rattling off an anecdote about how each wine got its name and some of the history of the winery itself. The proprietor is a woman with a vision of a relaxing oasis, which discourages the presence of children but not of dogs (my kind of place). This winery is unique because it is has the largest planting of Virginia’s native grape, the Norton, in the entire world, and they incorporate it into their French and Spanish wine varieties.
Chase also told us that they are putting in a kitchen soon so that they can sell their own butter made in-house (this really excited one of the girls in our group, alarmingly, to the point where Meredith and I exchanged a baffled look. Butter is good on toast I guess but damn). There are cheeses and other snacks you can buy inside now, but the staff are really excited about this new project.
We tasted 10 wines for $15, which probably amounts to about 3 glasses of wine for the same price, which is a great deal. I am more than certain that I paid far more for the wine tasting in Tuscany, but I guess that is to be expected because it is mother fugging Italy, after all. Plus, Chrysalis lets you take your wine glass home with you after the tasting, which, as a new homeowner, was a huge perk.
The tasting did not take long and we were soon free to wander the grounds and relax in the late summer sun. Despite being there on a Saturday in August, it was not too crowded and was quiet and peaceful everywhere we wandered, as long as we stayed away from the large group of frat boys who were yelling at each other in their short shorts and Croakies.
Our favorite wine was Mariposa, a sweet rosé with notes of strawberry and cherry that light up your tastebuds (can you tell I am, in fact, not a wine connoisseur? I try). A glass inside the building is $5.75 and a bottle was $17, the Mariposa being one of their cheaper wines. The prices range up to $12.75 a glass and $38 a bottle for their flagship wine, which is dark and dry.
The staff were all incredibly nice and accommodating. They card you every single time you order a drink, which for us was about 5 times, so I had to try hard to keep myself from snapping someone’s head off. I think the sour looks and judgmental tones of everyone who has ever carded me as they regard my cherub cheeks and the shrill tone to my voice has conditioned me to get infuriated every time I am carded, but the people at Chrysalis Vineyards are very kind, I can assure you.
The tasting center includes the main building, where you can purchase wine and sit on the balcony overlooking the grounds, picnic areas for chatting and picnicking (guests are encouraged to bring food to eat with their wine), and pavilions. After a few glasses Meredith and I meandered on upstairs and sat on the balcony with our newly purchased bottle of Mariposa, the balcony being a seating area for wine consumers aged 21 and up only. I was giddy that Meredith is finally a damn adult and able to do adult things with me. I am 25 and feel like the girl could have parented me for the past 10 years, so it’s about time that she gets to reap the benefits of the wisdom beyond her years.
The verdict: wine tasting is a GD amazing activity and I am confused as to why I haven’t done it more up until now. On Saturdays in college you could always find me sipping straight from the keg in some guy’s backyard; darties, or day parties, have always been my bag. You can enjoy the great outdoors AND have a couple of drinks with friends. Wineries are literally just darties for classy adults. I’m into it.
Chrysalis Vineyards did not disappoint, despite being able to compare it only to the prestigious vineyards of central Italy. It is an affordable way to spend a weekend afternoon, and it is open year-round for those trying to get their darty on at all times. Definitely worth a stop, if not for the wine than for the gorgeous views. I will absolutely be making an appearance again, and apologize to Northern Virginia for doubting the legitimacy of its impressive wine country. Thanks, Chrysalis, for an amazing day.
Until next time.
